shabbath, “sabbath,” strong’s H7676

First occurrence

And he said to them: This is that which YHVH has spoken: Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to YHVH. Bake that which you will bake, and boil that which you will boil; and all that remains over, lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning. Exo 16:23

The Primitive Root

Strong’s H7676, shabbath, a concrete noun meaning, “Sabbath,” the seventh day of rest; itself intensive from Strong’s H7673 שבת shabath, a primitive root meaning, “to cease, desist,” i.e. to rest. The ancient pictographs are shin + bet + tav.

shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
bet ב = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
tav ת = crossed sticks, thus mark, sign, signal, monument

The story the ancient Hebrew pictographs are telling, is of pressing in (shin) to home (bet), for work in ancient times was done in the fields, so when one returned home, it was because the work was done for the day and it was time to sit and rest. When one pressed in to home, when one ceased from labor and took their rest, that action is a sign or signal (tav) that marked that person.

And YHVH spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.” Exo 31:12-13

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